I don't know where to begin. Sorry that much of this is off-topic. Parents are downsizing, house just sold, email went out to the kids "come retrieve all your crap and if you want anything take it before it goes on Craigslist or out in the trash". Its bittersweet, part of me feels like its Christmas while the other part is sad to see so much be purged. Regardless, because I'm the only one of the kids that enjoys working with my hands (or the only one who appreciates owning/maintaining/restoring old QUALITY things vs. a new & shiny Bulge-Bracket import garbage tool/widget), I've recently come into a ton of cool stuff... I told my parents "I just bought a house with a ton of garage space & land so I'll take anything no one else wants, and probably even most of the stuff you think is trash/throwaway."
I don't even know what some of this stuff is --which is why a lot of this may be off-topic, being non-axe, tomahawk or hatchet related. Notwithstanding, I have a feeling many of you might know what these things are and I would be grateful to anyone who can help me identify these things as well as try to place an approximate year/vintage to them. For the record, I'm not trying to identify for monetary values, nothing is for sale, I just want to know what it is and how to care for it. Its mostly hand and yard tools. 90% of it was all my grandfather's stuff so not only is it fairly old, as my father says: "he's been pushing up daisies since '94" so I can't exactly ask him what all the stuff is and my dad not only hasn't touched most of it he keeps saying to me "that was grandpa's, didn't even know I had that".
I'll post the pictures in groups as best I can and unless someone gets upset about the OT tools, I'll follow up as I take more pictures and make trips to get more stuff. Sorry to make people scroll up & down like crazy but I'll also ask questions under the photos.
Thanks for looking, reading and any help answering my questions!
Off-Topic stuff first:
I know these things are used to loosen soil when gardening but what are they called and is it worth it to re-handle that one? Also, some of the forks/prongs are bent, should I use heat or try and cold-bend the metal straight? I don't believe they were stamped anywhere that I could see. Manufacturer? Would HH have a handle for these?
What the heck is this used for? Splitting wood I assume... Is it like a mini grenade wedge?
These hedge shears are stamped Seymour Smith & Sons. The handles are very loose, probably from me trying to chop anything and everything with them when I was a kid. Will HH have handles for them and/or what can I put on the handles to possibly try and save them? BLO? Do you just put BLO on pretty much everything? Related, I got a pair of Craftsman lopping shears that my brother and I also abused like crazy as kids. The new ones just aren't the same quality and the hickory handles are also slightly loose. If I pull the pins/nails and metal caps will the handles just slide out? I don't want to glue the handles back on but can I wedge anything in there to tighten handles like these back up?
Says "American somethingorother made by True Temper" on the handle. No idea how old it was but I remember doing everything I could to try and break that stupid pitchfork as a kid... and now I want to straighten it. Do I apply heat before I try and bend it back? How much heat? I assume I can use BLO on the handle? (Yes that's a dryer in the background. I'm not allowed to wash my "work clothes" (play clothes to me) & shop rags in the house washer so I went out and bought my own $50 Craigslist washer & dryer so I can wash & dry anything I want!)
No markings on that thing anywhere and dad doesn't remember how he acquired it. It'll probably hang on the wall in the garage until I'm either fortunate enough to have a ski cabin (where it will be decoration) or I have sons who try to use the thing to try and chop down a tree. Any idea how to find out what the thing is or where it came from? The handles are dry and there is rust around the handle fasteners. Should I take it apart, clean & apply BLO or just leave & hand as-is?
Another tool I tried very hard to break/destroy as a kid... I can't read the sticker on the handle anymore and there are no markings on the pick. Probably Craftsman. I know some axes are handled this way (round eye). Dirt is falling out from between the head and the haft and if I remember correctly, at one point the head was loose on the haft and I don't think it ever got fixed. I just cut down a pretty big tree next to the house and I promised to have the stump gone by snowfall so we can plant a new tree in the same place next spring --so I'll use this a bunch ASAP. What do I do to care for/maintain a tool with a round eye like that? Are you supposed to use wedges? Do I just slam the head down and use a bunch of BLO on the haft?
I took a bunch of hoes and flat-blade edging shovels all handled like this. They are all my grandfather's vintage, not dad's. Do I just clean up the wood, gently put the metal collar back on and generously apply BLO? Do I use Swel-Lock between the metal collar and the haft or will BLO be fine?
Made me smile and laugh when my mother said she hated this sickle. It was my grandfather's so my dad refused to get rid of it. She said they used to have to hide it from us because if we found it we would either cut anything/everything we could with it (probably the flowers in the front yard & garden) or one brother would be chasing/trying to kill the other brother with it.
So what do I do with it? There are no markings/stamps on it anywhere. Same as everything else? Clean the wood and apply BLO? I'll probably keep it sharp (already sharpened it last night) and use it here and there so how do I own/keep/maintain it so it doesn't keep rusting away and the handle stays fresh?
To keep this short, that's one of MANY hammers. I just picked up two or three milk crates full of haftless axe and hammer heads at an estate sale and I just got about twice as many from my dad. Almost all of them are stamped like this one with Vaughan. I don't know that brand, is it good? If its a low-quality brand I'll probably box them so they don't get destroyed vs. use them. Many of the hammers with handles are like this --oily and gross. How do I clean and care for an old handle like that? Should I start buying BLO by the 5-gallon bucket? With the heads that are without handles, is it the same as an axe? Measure, figure out what size I want, place an order with HH and have at it? Is there anything different with hafting a hammer vs. an axe?
There were a couple wooden mallets like this. Almost looks like they were used to hammer/close paint cans. They all have that same notched point. What is that? Also... Is this the type of wooden mallet that would be good to use to drive in a kerf wedge? How do I maintain them? BLO like everything else? I'll use them day-to-day but they have about 40 years of dust and sitting so they are pretty dry. Don't want them to crack or fall apart if I start using them.
Next post will have the on-topic axes and stuff... Thank you for looking/replying.
I don't even know what some of this stuff is --which is why a lot of this may be off-topic, being non-axe, tomahawk or hatchet related. Notwithstanding, I have a feeling many of you might know what these things are and I would be grateful to anyone who can help me identify these things as well as try to place an approximate year/vintage to them. For the record, I'm not trying to identify for monetary values, nothing is for sale, I just want to know what it is and how to care for it. Its mostly hand and yard tools. 90% of it was all my grandfather's stuff so not only is it fairly old, as my father says: "he's been pushing up daisies since '94" so I can't exactly ask him what all the stuff is and my dad not only hasn't touched most of it he keeps saying to me "that was grandpa's, didn't even know I had that".
I'll post the pictures in groups as best I can and unless someone gets upset about the OT tools, I'll follow up as I take more pictures and make trips to get more stuff. Sorry to make people scroll up & down like crazy but I'll also ask questions under the photos.
Thanks for looking, reading and any help answering my questions!
Off-Topic stuff first:
I know these things are used to loosen soil when gardening but what are they called and is it worth it to re-handle that one? Also, some of the forks/prongs are bent, should I use heat or try and cold-bend the metal straight? I don't believe they were stamped anywhere that I could see. Manufacturer? Would HH have a handle for these?
What the heck is this used for? Splitting wood I assume... Is it like a mini grenade wedge?
These hedge shears are stamped Seymour Smith & Sons. The handles are very loose, probably from me trying to chop anything and everything with them when I was a kid. Will HH have handles for them and/or what can I put on the handles to possibly try and save them? BLO? Do you just put BLO on pretty much everything? Related, I got a pair of Craftsman lopping shears that my brother and I also abused like crazy as kids. The new ones just aren't the same quality and the hickory handles are also slightly loose. If I pull the pins/nails and metal caps will the handles just slide out? I don't want to glue the handles back on but can I wedge anything in there to tighten handles like these back up?
Says "American somethingorother made by True Temper" on the handle. No idea how old it was but I remember doing everything I could to try and break that stupid pitchfork as a kid... and now I want to straighten it. Do I apply heat before I try and bend it back? How much heat? I assume I can use BLO on the handle? (Yes that's a dryer in the background. I'm not allowed to wash my "work clothes" (play clothes to me) & shop rags in the house washer so I went out and bought my own $50 Craigslist washer & dryer so I can wash & dry anything I want!)
No markings on that thing anywhere and dad doesn't remember how he acquired it. It'll probably hang on the wall in the garage until I'm either fortunate enough to have a ski cabin (where it will be decoration) or I have sons who try to use the thing to try and chop down a tree. Any idea how to find out what the thing is or where it came from? The handles are dry and there is rust around the handle fasteners. Should I take it apart, clean & apply BLO or just leave & hand as-is?
Another tool I tried very hard to break/destroy as a kid... I can't read the sticker on the handle anymore and there are no markings on the pick. Probably Craftsman. I know some axes are handled this way (round eye). Dirt is falling out from between the head and the haft and if I remember correctly, at one point the head was loose on the haft and I don't think it ever got fixed. I just cut down a pretty big tree next to the house and I promised to have the stump gone by snowfall so we can plant a new tree in the same place next spring --so I'll use this a bunch ASAP. What do I do to care for/maintain a tool with a round eye like that? Are you supposed to use wedges? Do I just slam the head down and use a bunch of BLO on the haft?
I took a bunch of hoes and flat-blade edging shovels all handled like this. They are all my grandfather's vintage, not dad's. Do I just clean up the wood, gently put the metal collar back on and generously apply BLO? Do I use Swel-Lock between the metal collar and the haft or will BLO be fine?
Made me smile and laugh when my mother said she hated this sickle. It was my grandfather's so my dad refused to get rid of it. She said they used to have to hide it from us because if we found it we would either cut anything/everything we could with it (probably the flowers in the front yard & garden) or one brother would be chasing/trying to kill the other brother with it.
So what do I do with it? There are no markings/stamps on it anywhere. Same as everything else? Clean the wood and apply BLO? I'll probably keep it sharp (already sharpened it last night) and use it here and there so how do I own/keep/maintain it so it doesn't keep rusting away and the handle stays fresh?
To keep this short, that's one of MANY hammers. I just picked up two or three milk crates full of haftless axe and hammer heads at an estate sale and I just got about twice as many from my dad. Almost all of them are stamped like this one with Vaughan. I don't know that brand, is it good? If its a low-quality brand I'll probably box them so they don't get destroyed vs. use them. Many of the hammers with handles are like this --oily and gross. How do I clean and care for an old handle like that? Should I start buying BLO by the 5-gallon bucket? With the heads that are without handles, is it the same as an axe? Measure, figure out what size I want, place an order with HH and have at it? Is there anything different with hafting a hammer vs. an axe?
There were a couple wooden mallets like this. Almost looks like they were used to hammer/close paint cans. They all have that same notched point. What is that? Also... Is this the type of wooden mallet that would be good to use to drive in a kerf wedge? How do I maintain them? BLO like everything else? I'll use them day-to-day but they have about 40 years of dust and sitting so they are pretty dry. Don't want them to crack or fall apart if I start using them.
Next post will have the on-topic axes and stuff... Thank you for looking/replying.
